This invention relates to drinking vessels, and particularly to drinking vessels having an automatically activated indicator such as a light source or sound source.
Illuminated drinking vessels have been an object of interest for more than fifty years, as exemplified by the following patents:
Illumination is controlled in a number of different ways in the devices disclosed in these patents, such as with a plunger-activated switch in the above-referenced patent to Schroyer, tilt switches with conductive balls or mercury beads as in the Simpson, Runge, Tipton and Russell patents, manually operated switches as in the Weller, Makowsky and Tucker patents, a moisture sensor as in the Dietz et al. patent, and liquid level detectors as, in the Simpson and Russell patents. Runge also discloses an embodiment of a tilt switch that includes a pendulum mounted vertically within a drinking vessel.
Numerous types of switches are, of course, available in other applications. Inertial switches, i.e., switches designed to change state in response to acceleration, have long been available in various forms in other applications, both military and commercial, and several examples thereof are disclosed in the following patents:
It is also known to employ a piezoelectric sensor in the base of a drinking vessel for automatic activation of an LED or a sound module. A double-walled tumbler of the type described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/730,597, hereby incorporated by reference, has been on the market for several years and has achieved commercial success. A shot glass containing the same type of circuit has also been on the market for more than a year, the circuit being contained in the base of a two-part molded shot glass of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,065 to Kalamaras. The piezoelectric sensor employed in the products just mentioned is wafer-thin and thus particularly suitable for a confined space such as in the base of a drinking vessel as small as a shot glass. The piezoelectric sensor has other advantages as well. However, problems have been experienced which are believed to be due, at least in part, to the piezoelectric sensor.
In spite of the existence of numerous types of drinking vessels with automatically activated light or sound sources, and the availability of numerous switch types, there is a continuing need for improved products of this type, and, more particularly, a continuing need for an improved combination of product attributes including simplicity, compactness, cost, efficiency and reliability.
The present invention meets the above-stated needs as well as others by providing a drinking vessel with an impact-responsive indicator circuit including an inertial switch having a stationary contact and a movable contact, the movable contact including a conductive spring member, the indicator circuit further including an indicator and a signal generator responsive to the inertial switch and having an output connected to the indicator.
According to another aspect of the invention, a drinking vessel contains an indicator activated by a direction-sensitive inertial switch. An impact-responsive indicator circuit contained within the drinking vessel includes an inertial switch having a stationary contact and a movable contact, the inertial switch having greater sensitivity to force applied axially to the bottom of the drinking vessel than to force applied in other directions, whereby the indicator circuit is particularly responsive to downward impact of the drinking vessel in an upright position. The indicator circuit further includes an indicator and a signal generator responsive to the inertial switch and having an output connected to the indicator.
As another aspect of the invention, a shot glass contains an impact-responsive indicator circuit in a small compartment within a hollow base, the indicator circuit including a low-profile inertial switch having a stationary contact and a cantilevered spring contact which has a longitudinal axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shot glass, the indicator circuit further including an indicator and a signal generator responsive to the inertial switch and having an output connected to the indicator.
According to another aspect of the invention, a drinking vessel contains an impact-responsive indicator circuit including a caseless inertial switch consisting of a stationary contact and a movable contact both mounted directly to a surface of a printed circuit board on which are also mounted an indicator and a signal generator responsive to the inertial switch and having an output connected to the indicator.